Thursday, January 22, 2009

You Can Be Debt Free

By Brenda Lengel

Many of us worry about high credit card bills and we want to find out how we can become debt free. With all of the credit card offers that we receive in the mail each week and the pressure from retail stores to open a credit card account, it is easy to obtain a credit card, spend money on that card, and then not be able to pay the balance off at the end of the month. This leads us into debt, and if we are not careful, that debt can grow and cause us a great deal of stress.

The first thing you will need to do as you start to consider how you can become debt free is to review your monthly income and expenses. Find places where you can cut expenses and then set a monthly budget that you can follow. Save your credit cards for emergency situations only and cut up extra ones that are not needed. As you make these changes you may find enough money to meet the monthly payments on your cards and loans.

Many times it is necessary to contact a debt consolidation company in order to become debt free. The goal of a debt consolidation company is to help you with your credit card bills and loan payments that you are having difficulty paying. There are different methods of debt consolidation and your debt counselor will be able to review the methods with you and help you to choose the right program for your specific needs.

There are several different programs that the debt consolidation company may suggest for you. In debt consolidation, they will contact all of your credit card and unsecured loan companies and let them know that you are trying to become debt free. They will work to get your interest rates lowered and your over the limit and late payment fees reduced or eliminated. The debt consolidation company will start making payments for you to your creditors after they receive each monthly payment from you. In this way, you only have to make one payment each month instead of paying several creditors. They will manage your consolidated accounts relieving you of some stress.

In some cases, you can take a debt consolidation loan in order to become debt free. All of your credit card account balances and unsecured loan account balances can be paid off by this loan. You will then make your monthly loan payments to the debt consolidation company. This loan will have a lower interest rate and the monthly payments will be affordable due to an extended payment term.

The debt consolidation company may also offer debt settlement, where your accounts are all settled for a lower payment amount. Debt consolidation counselors know the best way to talk to your creditors about your credit card bills, and they will work to obtain the best settlement amount for you on each of your accounts. After you have made your required monthly payments to the debt consolidation company for the agreed upon term, you bill be debt free. Your accounts will have been settled for less than you currently owe and you will be free of the stress of credit card debt.

After you have made your required monthly payments to the debt consolidation company for debt consolidation, a consolidation loan, or for debt settlement, you will be debt free. You will see your credit scores improve as you make your monthly payments on time and at the end of the consolidation program you will be free from the stress of your credit card bills and see a much higher credit score. You will want to continue to follow your financial plan each month so that you stay debt free, save money and keep your improving your credit scores. Start working on your credit card bills now so that you can become debt free as soon as possible.

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